


The Black Dog

by tmo



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Gen, Guilt, Minor Character Death, Shapeshifting, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:15:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25242229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmo/pseuds/tmo
Summary: Ever heard of the legend of the black dog? Kakashi has.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23
Collections: Naruto Fantasy Week 2020





	The Black Dog

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is super dark in my opinion so look outs!

Pants coming out in shots of smoke, he picked up his pace. He couldn’t see it but the feeling of yellow eyes dug into his back and pressed him further, faster. 

The night was cold, his long coat wasn’t helping to cut the winter’s icy embrace. He’d been walking for hours now, trying to get somewhere that he’d only heard of and it was slowly killing him. Toes and hands so cold they couldn’t move, walking was hard but he pushed through it.

Because it was right behind him, the black dog.

It had been following him for so long, drilling into his mind as a grim reminder of what he’d done. It was more than just a black shadow of guilt hanging off his shoulders. It was a real, live animal that was waiting for its moment, waiting for Kakashi to beak.

As much as Kakashi’s mind wanted to, his body just kept going against the pain because he couldn't stop. 

Or else his past would catch up with him in the most literal sense because every time he looked back he saw the eyes.

Kakashi knew what seeing the Black Dog meant. The whispers in his hometown had all spoken of old man Hiruzen seeing it before committing suicide. The same had happened to Madara the Mad. He'd boarded himself up in his home, claiming to see a black dog prowling around outside. The next day, they found him dead after falling from bed.

Now, it was Kakashi’s turn. It was his turn to die.

And the Black Dog was coming for him.

Speeding up, Kakashi hurried through the cold, empty forest until the forest was no more. There were just grass and clearing and the oppressive fear that was driving him forward. Then there was no grass. He was just walking on black. And then he was falling into the black, tumbling over himself until he saw the cliff he'd fallen off.

"Tell me your sins."

Kakashi's eyes shot open, the darkness all around except a light. Following it, he found a fireplace. And at the fireplace, there was a man keeping it alive and well. His dark hair fell to one side and he was wearing Kakashi's coat.

When he turned to Kakashi, his sharp copper eyes glowed like the fire he was tending to as he asked, "What? Cat got your tongue?"

Then he smirked, sharp incisors hinting that his words had been a joke. His eyes briefly flashed yellow in the light.

Kakashi felt deep in his heart that he knew this man and he immediately stood. Stumbling back, he hurried away and started running, sprinting into the dark and away from the Black Dog. He kept going until his lungs hurt and his throat burned. When he couldn't run anymore, he stuttered to a stop with his lungs on fire. 

"Well, that seemed like a lot of work." The voice came from right behind him as if he hadn't moved at all.

Kakashi found the young man watching him with that same, all-knowing smile. He patted the seat across from him. "Come. Sit."

Uncertainly turning, Kakashi didn't move to sit. So, the Black Dog shrugged his slim shoulder and turned to the light. As he did, a scar across his nose flashed in the light. "Fine. Don’t tell me. I'll just sit here and wait until you give in. I've got all the time in the world, after all."

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked.

"You know who I am," was his answer and Kakashi let his shoulder sag.

This was it. This was the end. He could finally stop running. 

Kakashi hesitantly went to sit opposite the young-looking man who smiled too sweetly at him. "Perfect. Now, mind tell me what you did?"

While Kakashi struggled with what to say, eyes stared him down until he broke and admitted, "I killed him."

In the quiet moment that followed, the smile faded and the Black Dog nodded. "And how did he die?"

Kakashi swallowed, seeing Obito's lifeless face behind his eyelids when he blinked. "He shot himself."

"With?" 

He winced at the prodding. "With the gun I gave him."

He could hear Obito’s weeping. 

“And?”

“And he shot himself,” Kakashi replied, flashes of blood and brains spilling into his mind from the cage he'd put them in and dissolving his thoughts into static.

"Why?"

Rin was suddenly in his mind, her scream so loud as he tried to grab her hand before the wolves could.

The tears streaming down his cheeks stung and he couldn't breathe. He was suffocating on her last breaths as Obito said,  _ "I loved her." _

_ "I'm sorry,"  _ Kakashi repeated from his memory and Obito rounded on him, slamming him into the ground and punching him over and over and over until Kakashi's self-pity lashed back. 

He'd only hit Obito once, throwing his gun at Obito as he yelled,  _ "I'm sorry." _

Obito had taken the gun, pointed it at his friend and was ready to do just what Kakashi offered. Then Kakashi watched him crumble, falling apart from the inside out right before shooting himself instead.

"Hey." A voice in Kakashi’s ear pulled him right back to the fire and the burning eyes watching him, unravelling all the regret and guilt in Kakashi's heart. 

The Black Dog then reached out, his hand shockingly comforting as it drew across Kakashi's tear-stained cheek. 

It felt like the touch of someone familiar, a sudden ease from the pain and horror. 

Peace chilled his burning heart. It slowly pulled back, leaving his body cold again, freezing even though the touch on his cheek was warm and the eyes pulling him apart were tender.

"Would you like a second chance?"

Kakashi took a moment to take in the question. His breaths were coming out in puffs of cold steam now. It felt like things were settling, this was it.

Before he thought it, there was an answer on his lips.

"Yes."

With that, his eyelids fell and he sank deep into the cold, dark embrace of sleep but not for long.

Suddenly, he could feel his body again. There was the feeling of hands on him, warm and careful in their touch. Everything was hazy and blurred but his eyes opened to that glowing gaze of the Black Dog again.

His voice caressed Kakashi's ear, soothing as his body slowly became more aware of the noise and movement around him. "Then don't waste it."

Then, suddenly there were a million voices in his years.

Some were firm. "Kakashi? This is Doctor Namikaze. We found…" 

Others were mutters from far off. "... Heart rate has stabilized and blood pressure is back to normal."

"Great job, Hayate."

"Are you sure you haven't seen him before?"

"I'm sure."

"... I don't think he's going to wake up."

"It's been two weeks and the police still haven't found any next of kin."

All those different voices and conversations hit him at once but there was one voice out of them all that he hooked on to, that made everything else stop.

"If you really want this second chance, you have to wake up, okay?"

Kakashi did. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking away the blurry but faint light around him. Mostly, it was still dark but this time he knew he was awake by faint sounds of machines whirring and the stiffness of his neck.

Craning his neck over, he could see an iv drip and a few other machines he didn't recognize on that side of the bed. The blinds were drawn but it was definitely dark outside. The ceiling felt very hospital but what he still couldn't believe he was awake, alive and safe, especially when he turned his head and found a police officer sitting at his bedside.

"Wha…" he managed through a dry throat and the young man looked up, happily surprised that Kakashi was awake.

"Hey," he greeted softly, his smile glinting just out of the light's reach. "Want some water?"

Coughing, Kakashi tried to nod but found he couldn't. "Yes, please."

A hand reached out from the shadows with a glass of water and Kakashi pulled up a weak hand to use the straw provided. With his throat cleared, Kakashi weakly set aside the glass. That was when he really took a good look at the officer and how quiet they were, how they watched Kakashi.

From what he saw, the officer was a young man with dark hair pulled up high and dark eyes that followed his moves. There wasn't anything else he could see but he had a feeling that he should pay close attention, especially with that badge.

"Feeling better?" The officer asked with a tilt of his head and Kakashi hummed in response. Before he could find a proper answer, the other man explained, "You've been in a coma for the past few weeks so you'll be feeling like roadkill."

Weeks didn't really register in Kakashi’s mind, he was too busy trying to place where he knew that voice.

"I know this might be overwhelming so please take all the time you need to process this and everything that's happened." He was cordial, kind and all-around polite but there was a charming part of his tenor that felt too charming, like acting.

The stranger had a point though. Kakashi had a lot of things to explain. He couldn't imagine what the cabin had looked like, there had been so much blood. Shivering visibly, Kakashi asked, "Do you need my statement?"

There was a pause and Kakashi waited, watching even as the officer said nothing. Then there was that smile again. This time, Kakashi caught better sight of it as the officer stood.

"Don't worry about that. We already have it." 

Kakashi didn't have to ask how, not with the way the officer's eyes flashed bright yellow in the light and the way his smile curled up even more.

"What's your name, officer?" Kakashi found himself asking.

"You can call me Iruka," was the answer as he started out the door. Before he left, he looked back and said plainly, "Don't waste that second chance, Kakashi."

With a wink, he sauntered out and Kakashi watched as the Black Dog, the harbinger of death, left.

And so, he was left with his thoughts.

He had the pain. He had the guilt.

Now, he just had to figure out what to do with them and his second chance.

**Author's Note:**

> Just another look into a possible universe.   
> Black dogs are often said to be portents of death. They're also a metaphor for depression and melancholy so take that how you will.


End file.
